Assault by unspecified hot objects, initial encounter

This code signifies an injury resulting from an intentional act of violence involving an unspecified hot object. The patient has sustained harm due to another person's deliberate use of heat, but the specific type of hot object (e.g., hot liquid, steam, flame) is not documented. This is for the initial treatment of the injury.

Use this code when documentation clearly indicates an assault where the perpetrator used a hot object, but the type of hot object is not specified. This is appropriate for the initial encounter for treatment of the resulting injury, such as burns or other thermal trauma. It should be applied when the intent is clearly assaultive, and the heat source is unknown.

• Always sequence this code after the primary injury code (e.g., burn code).
• Ensure the documentation explicitly states "assault" and "hot object" without further specification of the object type.
• Do not use if the hot object is known (e.g., hot water, steam, fire); instead, use a more specific assault code.